Kin of missing Jonas Burgos pin hope on next President
NO CLOSURE Edita Burgos marks the 9th anniversary of the abduction of her son Jonas, in a commemoration held on Thursday at the Commission on Human Rights office in Quezon City. President Aquino, whose term is ending in June, promised her six years ago that justice will be served in her son’s case.
THE FAMILY of missing farmer-activist Jonas Burgos hopes that the country’s next elected leader will be able to bring him back home, noting that President Aquino has yet deliver on his promise to bring closure to the case before his term ends.
Jonas, son of the late journalist and press freedom fighter Joe Burgos, was abducted at Ever Gotesco mall in Quezon City on April 28, 2007.
The license plate of the vehicle used to abduct him was traced to a vehicle impounded at the camp of the Army’s 56th Infantry Battalion in Bulacan province.
The Supreme Court has upheld the findings of the Court of Appeals holding the Army accountable for Jonas’ enforced disappearance. But despite an order to find him, Jonas remains missing.
Jonas’ mother, Edita Burgos, has marked every year of her son’s disappearance with a reminder and appeal to President Aquino to find out the truth.
“Government inaction on cases such as that of Jonas helps perpetuate impunity in the country. It encourages human rights violations. It continues to cover up the military’s abduction of Jonas,” JL Burgos said.
“With the coming elections, the family and friends of Jonas hope that the next President will not be part of the continuing cover-up. The Burgos family challenges the next President to bring the perpetrators to justice and bring Jonas back home,” he said.
SC order, QC court case
During the eighth year of Jonas’ abduction, Edita appealed to President Aquino as commander in chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to order the military to follow the 2014 Supreme Court order.
Edita Burgos criticized the promotion of Maj. Gen. Eduardo Año as Army chief even as evidence gathered in the case point to Año’s and his co-officers’ culpability.
Año had denied involvement in the abduction. The arbitrary detention case filed against him by Edita Burgos was dismissed by the Department of Justice.
An arbitrary detention case is pending in the Quezon City Regional Trial Court against Maj. Harry Baliaga Jr., then first lieutanant at 56th IB, who was identified by a witness as the one who seized Burgos at Hapag Kainan restaurant at Ever Gotesco mall on Commonwealth Avenue.
